Potential Buyer

Vincent had finally arrived at his destination. He had driven four long hours, from Tampa to Miami, Florida. He was now pulling up at Jamison Inn & Suites. He had a room already reserved for him, checked in, and took his packed suitcase and briefcase out of the truck. He took a quick glance to make sure that the machine had made it there safely, then closed the hatch. He went up to his room, 212, changed clothes, and lay down on the bed. He was exhausted.

Bright sunlight shone from behind the white curtains. Vincent woke with a start and opened the curtains up and the room became filled with that glowing light. He took a quick shower then dressed himself in a fresh midnight black suit. His aim was to look as professional and business-like as possible. He waxed his bald head until light could reflect off of it. He picked up his briefcase and the yellow pages that came with the room and walked out. Not for a million dollars would anybody have guessed that he was a criminal out to get revenge.

The truck started up with a loud roar as Vincent sat in the driver's seat multitasking. He was skimming through the yellow pages for a good place to sell the stolen machine. He figured a pawn shop wouldn't work. He could sell it at Wal-Mart or Petco , but those were mass merchandisers and the law would most likely catch up to him. His eye spotted an ad in the corner of the page. “Local Veterinarian,” it read. He quickly jotted down the information: email; work number; cell number; address; zip code. This was a piece of cake, he thought, and smiled to himself.

1049 Gards Road. He had finally arrived. The pet hospital had a red roof over a white building. There were lots of glass windows and a sliding glass door lead to the inside. It looked like it was a friendly place to be in. Vincent parked in a parking space at the back for two reasons; 1, he wanted to be able to back out his truck without hitting someone else's car, and 2, he just didn't want to be noticed.

Vincent hopped out of the truck, and slyly walked into the building. The doors had a motion sensor and therefore opened by themselves. He found himself to be in some sort of waiting room. The building wasn't very large, so he knew that they probably worked on the animals in the next door. He tried the knob, but he couldn't get in because it was locked. So, he just sat on one of the green waiting chairs. Vincent looked around. Books and magazines were neatly stacked on a bookshelf. On the floor sat toys for children and toys for dogs. Pictures of people with their pets covered the walls. One picture was of a young boy standing next to a tiger. Vincent frowned.

“How may I help you?” a woman asked him suspiciously, and interrupted his thoughts.

Vincent now realized that this was a veterinarian center, and he had no animal with him. He looked the woman up and down. She wore a name tag. Apparently her name was Ruby. Her hair stopped at her ears and was short and curly. She was kind of petite herself, but her gray eyes seemed to bore right into his soul. “Uh, are you the owner?”

“No. How may I help you?” she asked again, getting impatient by the minute.

“Can I speak to the owner please?”

“Sure,” she said with a loud and agitated sigh. Ruby went back inside the door, and a few minutes later a different woman came out. She was a Mexican with long brown hair. Unlike the other woman's cold eyes, her eyes were a soft brown. Her name tag read, 'Marguerite'. She was a bit young, perhaps in her late twenties. “If this is more important than my patient, then you can leave,” she said with a weak Spanish accent.

“I'm here to ask you if you wanted to buy a machine that I personally built and have on sell.”

“What kind is it?” she asked, uninterested.

“It would benefit animals, and humans as well.”

Her whole face expression changed. Now, she was clearly listening and her eyes sparkled, “Do you have it on you?”

“Well, it's too big to carry on my body,” She was disinterested again. “but it's right outside in my truck if you want to see it.”

“Ok. Let's go see this thing, then,” she said and walked out into the stuffy air. Vincent followed behind her, then fast-walked his way in front. He lead her to his truck. He stretched out his hand. “Behold!”

“Is this it?”

“Yes.”

“A truck? You wanted me to waste my time to see a truck?”

Vincent realized that he hadn't opened up the hatch. He no longer seemed business-like as he fumbled around with it. Finally, it opened up and the machine could be seen.

Without asking, the woman hopped into the back of the truck and walked around the machine. Occasionally she would touch it. “How much you selling?” she asked.

“Excuse me?”

“Price, what is the price?”

Vincent hadn't given a thought towards the price. Now, his thoughts raced in his mind. How much would it go for? What would be the maximum price that someone would be willing to pay? What would be the minimum?

“Is 5 grand fine?” she asked after a tense 3 minutes had gone by.

Lost in his thoughts, Vincent had completely forgotten that the woman was waiting on an answer. Now, after she had broken the silence, he stared at her. “Oh, oh. Yes, I suppose that is.” he caught on and said. But what if someone was willing to offer more? But then, what if he wouldn't be able to find another buyer? He had seen this ad right on the dot, so it was fate, he finally proclaimed. He would sell it to this girl, leave the state, then do what he could with 5k. Suddenly, he heard a loud noise.

Marguerite had snapped her fingers. The man seemed to be lost in his thoughts again, and she wanted to get this business over as quickly as possible to get back to tending to the wounded dog. She had told Ruby to soothe its broken leg until she got back. She really didn't think that the man would go for only 5 grand. She would have to the bank immediately and take the money out of her savings account. She didn't know how long the offer lasted, and so she asked, “Can I just go to the bank down the street right
quick? I don't exactly have the...five grand on me. Could you just wait right here until I get back?”

Vincent knew that this would cause suspicion to passerby’s. “I'll just come back on Friday afternoon. Be ready to buy,” he told her. This would give him plenty of time to find other potential customers. Maybe, just maybe, he would find someone that would offer more money. It was currently Tuesday, and not counting today, he would have 3 days to find someone else.